Spike Lee vs Tyler Perrry, and Django Unchained comments.

(ThyBlackMan.com) Just like everyone reading this article, I’ve come to love and respect Spike Lee immensely over the years. He is a cinematic pioneer and legend, opening the door for nearly ever black filmmaker in Hollywood. I said as much when I spoke with Tyler Perry a year ago about his on-going feud with Spike, making it clear that I appreciate what both men bring to the table for black people.

When it came to the Tyler Perry vs. Spike Lee debate, I saw much of this as a regional conflict: The very subtle black southern baptist tradition against the more progressive, in-your-face norms of Harlem activism. Being a southerner who eventually moved to New York, I am able to at least try to understand both perspectives. Spike Lee is correct that black people are more likely to get opportunities when we shuck and jive for white folks, but Tyler Perry has single-handedly exported black Hollywood to Atlanta by creating more jobs than nearly any other black filmmaker in history. So, while Tyler’s characters are more likely to get approval from white folks, empowered black men like Spike Lee should certainly study Tyler Perry’s exercise in economic self-sufficiency….I found myself complaining a lot less about racist white people when I no longer had to work for them.

But going back to Spike Lee, I can appreciate someone who understands that the size of your paycheck does not justify anything you might want to do. As a professor of Finance who has trained scores of students for careers on Wall Street, I have studied the power and impact of money more than you’ll ever know. But I’ve also gained an understanding of how money is used to enslave people, especially African Americans (see commercialized hip-hop as an example of how corporate money is being used to fund black male genocide). One of the worst things you can ever do is form an addiction to a commodity that is controlled by the descendants of those who spent 400 years oppressing you.

In Spike Lee’s most recent criticism of one of his peers, he has decided that the new film, “Django Unchained” is “disrespectful to his ancestors.” Hearing these words made me question my own plans to see the film, since I respect what Spike has to say. I was looking for an explanation, or anything that might help me to better understand where Spike Lee was coming from.

Spike Lee did make this remark on his Twitter account:

“American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust.My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them.”

OK, that’s a little better, but I still need more. The truth is that I am not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino, so I am an easy sell on this kind of critique. While being both brilliant and creative, Quentin Taratino seems to push a bit too hard for shock value. One of the ways he loves to shock his audience is by using the n-word more than any gangster rapper in human history. I’ve never heard Quentin explain why he uses the n-word so much, so I have no idea if his intentions are noble or insulting. I would imagine that he could write great scripts without turning my stomach in every other scene and reminding black people of their own horrific dehumanization.

But in fairness to Jaime, Kerry Washington and other black people who trust Tarantino more than I do, I’d love to hear Spike explain in more detail why he won’t see the movie. I also think that those who disagree with Spike Lee should be obligated to explain their concern in some way other than simply saying, “He’s just a hater.” African Americans who provide important and sometimes uncomfortable critiques of the world around them should not be simply categorized as “haters.” Every now and then, you need to say something that will challenge people to think a little more deeply about how they live and spend their time. Doing anything some white guy tells you to do because you’re getting a big paycheck can turn you into a wealthy slave.

Spike Lee should probably write an op-ed or do a more in-depth interview around the topic. Also, if he hasn’t seen the film himself, this certainly weakens his critique and adds relevance to those who accuse him of being jealous of other filmmakers. I would hope that Spike would at least watch the film before he challenges it in such a brash and disrespectful way. But let’s be clear: It’s refreshing to see a public figure who is willing to be honest in a world where everyone is trained to sit back like little corporate puppets and smile at the destructive ignorance sprouting up all around them. We need black people who are willing to think for themselves and Spike Lee is certainly one of them.

Comments

There are lots of ppl who aren’t fans of Tyler and his work. It seems to happen EVERY DAMN TIME when a black person (male or female) becomes successful here comes the hateration. I think folks like Spike are jealous of Tyler b/c for some time now Tyler’s got it going on. He’s in control. He brings to screen stories that ppl can relate to. Tyler has tapped into subjects that his audiences find interesting and some have called his plays, movies, and sitcoms learning experiences. While ppl like Spike are spewing words of jealousy, Tyler’s bringing what millions of black ppl wanna see: themselves.

He hires more black actors than any other director or owner of a studio. I haven’t seen so many “sisters and brothers” in this many movies, plays, and sitcoms since I don’tknow when. It’s great to even see black ppl as extras in the background. So why is Spike hating on Tyler?

Jealousy’s the first thing that comes to my mind. Spike has always reminded me of the crab in the barrel syndrome. Since he hasn’t done anything worthwhile and he’s down and out, he wants to bring somebody, anybody down with him.

You cant sit here and think about fighting about rights when; only when your parents and grandparents fought this battle for yor. The fact that you thin your opinion matters is for the fact that these people fought for you. If you want to hide that means full of shame and that your ancestors fought for nothing. You should be proud to be non contested about your opinion and be proud of the road your fathers have provided, anything contested just showes you dont understand the rights towards all MENS freedoms.

Ok Splikeno disrespet. Just a few things and if you see this witch you probably wont. But really boycott the movie. For realok I 100%just agree that the sh*t ithat happened to your ancestorsis sick degrading and just plan horribe. There is not now and never will be any thinh that anyone can do to really makw the thing done to youpeople. But I truly think you boycotting this movie is probably because you didn’t do it first! I think yeah it is over the top and a lil gory. But seriously come on I know your ancestors woldbe in the theatrescheering and screeming at the actor the loved anddmning the one they don’t. I think your ancestors thatwent througjt probebly worse than this are lucky to have someone show they woulda like to handle these punksthat thoughtthey were really going to try and own a fellow human being. Forhey the fact that your ancestors were sold by some of there own. Get behind the onethat stood up and said F this and fought back and newthat they where more than what they were sold for that they were people and not going to die without a fight. Django just show a good story of a man that had enough and it was good go see it man and instead of being angery you didn’t think of it first be happy someone finally did

I understand Spike’s frustration. There is an extreme lack of positive black images in the media. America is the world leader in mass media, which educates more and more these days because people don’t read anymore. So we are left with the usually negative images we see and hear about so often on the news, BET, VH1, YouTube, world star, xxl, radio stations, satellite radios – etc etc pick your racial poison. Now I must agree that Tyler Perry does employ many black, but at what cost? Spike Lee makes movies like Miracle at St Anna – every time I mention this movie – people ask about it because they haven’t seen it. How about a Nat Turner movie, a Marcus Garvey movie, a movie about moors, great African kingdoms or something else historically empowering for a downtrodden and oppressed race of people? Jewish people get countless hero stories that are made by respectable directors and not shock artists. America has countless patriot movies to indoctrinate their white youth with. Most of today’s indoctrination of black youth is detestable and self destructive. I’m not saying Django will be a bad movie, or eve negative. But something as serious as slavery should not be put in the hands of a man like Quentin Tarantino – period. A Jewish man directed Schindler’s List – not an American, Italian, Japanese, or a German. Black people need to isolate themselves somewhat from white male dominated society. We need to be more reliant on each other to get the right message out. Instead of just sayin it’s a good movie because the slave revolts. We should be demanding for more movies with black heroes and heroines that aren’t a reheated stereotype.

Because in America we have willful ignorance….see people typically don’t like what I write on here but it’s because they don’t read enough to be upset. Normally they get their info from mass media (Satan). Because of that, when they hear what I say, it’s usually met with the “Massa wouldn’t do that to us” mentality. I was having a conversation (or so I thought) with a sister last night and she proved my point. She wanted to figure out the frustration that men have in society and then the conversation devolved into black people in general. And I was so frustrated because, in typical fashion, I saw a female who really didn’t want to have an honest discussion. Most want to debate. Not discuss. And usually the weak men want to debate too, instead of discuss the issues. Big difference in debate and discuss. When you debate, you haven’t come to an agreement on what the issue(s) are. When you discuss, you have already agreed to what the issue(s) are and you strategize how to move forward in terms of solving issue. However, when I really started bringing the hammer, she wanted to avoid the discussion. When she saw she her points weren’t valid, then it became a situation in which she tried to exit the conversation in a childish manner. And ended up telling her that black people are babies. My frustration with them in general is justified because typically when you try to hold their feet to the fire, they tend to respond in childish ways. For example, on this site, when you say something that black people don’t like, they normally, no matter male or female, attack you personally. I’ve seen countless times where I, Mack, or Sankofa be ridiculed for just expressing different points-of-views. I have never attacked anyone on here personally because i don’t know them like that. I talk about the issues that affect black people and try to offer solutions in the process, even if it means leaving the ones who are not worth shit alone. Whether you like the solution or not, it’s still an alternative. And when I say leave them alone, I’m only talking about the many that exists who aren’t worth shit. Matter fact even shit has a purpose. You can use shit to fertilize crops to feed people. There are some black people who, by their mere presence, cause more harm than good. That is truth. But while people on here get personal with me and my comrades, their children are being taught how to embrace homosexuality (bestiality) in the public school systems they send their children too and they say nothing. How do I know that this exist, yet as their parents, they don’t. Before they get on here and try to bash me, they might need to take a deeper look at what I say and stop trying to debate everything like we in college. This is real life now people. It’s either do or don’t do. That’s it. Have these women even paid attention to the budget situation at all. Do they realize that their is a real possibility that their benefits can be cut off like next year. But see these lazy females have an expectation that welfare will be there. Just like they have an expectation that when they turn on their water in the house, fresh liquid will pour out. What if it didn’t? What would you do? Hell your government is in debt. What makes you think they can bail you out like that when they need bailouts from other countries (China) to keep operating? You were completely surprised by me putting up those links and that’s scary!!!! Your children are being taught by faggots who have an agenda and that agenda is to turn your child into a sex slave by the time they reach college, or sooner. yet these black people want to get on here and attack me? I say what I say out of selfishness. I will be able to look my Creator in the face and say I tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen and you knew my frustration too. I share the info. That’s love enough cause really I don’t have to tell these clowns shit. I’m not even against a white couple adopting black children necessarily because if they come from an environment where their own neglects them, then they need love from somewhere and their have been black children raised by whites who have loved them dearly and that’s truth. However, i do have a serious problem with two fags adopting and raising any children, let alone black ones. Find some dyke to procreate with and do it that way but this shit? Hell nah. But this is what happens when you don’t take care of your own. Your kids get adopted (and screwed) by fags and they are so organized, they even fight in the courts to say it’s discrimination when they can’t. I see why the youth have no respect for this present generation of blacks. when they let them get put in situations like that I wouldn’t either. But black people can hate me for my comments all they want to on here. Doesn’t bother me one iota. But when their children turn out gay after years of public schooling, they can’t say I didn’t warn them. I don’t mind disagreements. That’s cool. But negroes tend to be too emotional to just disagree. They want to question your manhood on here (men and women). They make slick comments on here like people can’t read the sarcasm. Real ponk shit really because I don’t make it personal with them but it must mean that what I’m saying must be true about them. I talk passionately about the issues. I’m not an angry black man or none of that. I’m just passionate about the issues. But the moment I stop writing is the moment black people better fear. Because if I stop writing then it means it’s over. If I stop writing, then it means I don’t care anymore and I am damn sure close. Black people need to stop with this if i don’t like what you say mentality I don’t like you kick. it’s retarded. It’s freaking immature really.

One of the main message of Think Big is if an individual reads one to two books per week of substance (it has to be a book which interests the reader because it will keep him/her motivated), he can accomplish anything he wants later in life. But he needs discipline and rigor!

Keep going hard Sankofa….the weirdos will be living in cardboard boxes on the srreet in the near future….with gang violence, fights in general, girls getting pregnant and a whole host of other delinquent behaviors, people would be smart to going back to the old ways. I take a cue from Barack and Michelle, at the end of the day, when they had the choice of public or private, they chose private school which should tell you all you need to know. Like I keep saying it’s less about race and more about class. The more fuckups we have, the less competition you have out here. And there are fuckups in all ethnic groups, not just ours. Public education was, and is an experiment. People don’t even know that their children have been reading books promoting homosexuality in early education because they don’t let the children bring the books home. Because they know if a lot of parents caught whiff of this, they would burn these schools down. And we wonder why our children our becoming gay at an alarming rate. By the time they get to college, they are wide open for manipulation, especially on a sexual level. I would encourage parents, who have younger children in public school to find out what books they are reading in their curriculum. You’d be surprised at what their reading. Kids in junior high on that gay stuff and if you’re black, and that’s what you’re on, I definitely have nothing to d with you. I will not play sexual identity politics with black people. That is a waste of time. Just to give you an idea here are some links

@Mack If I have been hiding, it is in plain sight. My articles are here on Thyblackman.com, and I have already posted the link to my book page at Marcus where you asked for it, in the “Leadership or Pleadership” article comments. I will post it again here: http://marcusfillmore.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/c8/. I appreciate your persistence, of course.

@Sankofa My parents got those questions too… you are right to ignore and deflect them and keep it moving! Normal is mediocre right now, so normal is NOT at all desirable for one’s children!

Spike Lee should be worried about REAL slavery going on around the world today! even here in the U.S, the SEX SLAVE industry is HUGE, in
Africa his BELOVED homeland of his ancestors, what is he doing to help stop the Genocide and slavery going on there? umm ! my guess nothing . SPIKE quit living in the past , do something that is going to help stop slavery TODAY Spike !

Without going into extensive details the two older ones are not of the same mother, and we were separated by malfeasance. They were not home schooled nor born at home, this is why both complement MUST be on the same page.The eldest, my daughter works with my sister in the financial industry, but I am trying to work with my son to straighten out a youth raised in a drug dealing home (not mine) My youngest daughter is an accomplished dancer, violinist and chorister, who wants to be a lawyer. My youngest son is destined to be an engineer and we are creating the environment to make that a reality.

Lol!@ Mack…she can’t hide no more…@Deeann D. Mathews…my youngest daughter soon to be 21 was home schooled and my youngest son soon to be eight is being home schooled. Both were born at home with midwives. You r point is so valid in that it taxes you financially, emotionally and physically, but the rewards are exponentially greater than the sum total of the hit and miss we get in the public fool system. I agree with Ramses in that to be effective it has to be a collective effort and not just an individual family endeavor.

In my city Yurugu is killing the home school and mid wife thing, but knee-grows are bitching about racism or whatever, while asking me stupid shit as if my children were vegetables growing in a hothouse and away from normal people. Since I owe them no explanation my answers tend to stop stupid question from going further. Any body doing any of these two things be prepared to cuss people out or throw “bows, because when knee-grows ask questions, they are not often asking from a genuine place of inquiry but just to prove you are weird.

@Patty, Like I said Cress-Welsing is an unsung shero, but there is so many of us out there that our minds will be blown if we knew.

Ms. Matthews: I have a bone to pick with you! I’m a little ‘upset’ that you’ve been holding out on sharing your talent with the rest of us for so long. I’m a researcher by nature, and took it upon myself to look up that name of yours. What a surprise, but not a shock, to find you are a prolific author, among other things. I noticed you also did some editing for Terrance Amen’s book as well.

No more hiding; its time to share. Links for the books please… *tapping fingers*

@Ramses — You are right about the perils of the public school system. But please do not be afflicted with the whole not-only-is-the-grass-greener-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence-but-it-is-easy-to-get-to-that-side syndrome. Homeschooling — not in theory, but in practice — is emphatically NOT for those that want an easy route financially, emotionally, or spiritually.

@Patty — There are indeed proven benefits to homeschooling. So, it is worth it, if not easy, in many cases. I always tell people to consider the option, and my prayer is to meet a Black man who understands the necessity, particularly in light of the madness in the schools around these parts. But it is a long process of preparation. My parents were blessed to have just had the skill sets and the income set when they met, but for most of us, it has to be a goal we are working toward.

Black people complain about slavery for the same reason that Mexicans complain about immigration laws and Minute Men.

Speaking of which: the only reason Mexicans aren’t complaining about ‘they took our land’ is because they gave it right back to you by turning a blind eye for years while you walked right back across the border. FYI: a Mexican is an indian dipshit. Being ‘Mexican’ I thought you knew that.

And the next time you see a black man drinking a 40oz, walk up to him and call him a dumb nigger. Go ‘head…I grant you permission. Just make sure he still has the bottle in his hand when you do it.

@Deanne if black women want to homeschool their children, they would work in unison with men. It’s not hard. I will make sure that my wife stays at home with our children because I have seen the minds of those who allow strangers to raise their children in public schools. Chaos ensues. The only thing integration was it transferred our brain capital to their corporations and made them rich….

It is funny to see that people think it is normal that the Jews complain about the Holocaust and we are not allowed to talk about all the ills we suffered and still are suffering for centuries!!! There is a lot of ignorance. It is funny that people did not acknowledge the Holocaust of Blacks, Natives, etc. and that the word genocide was created right after WWII. Why? Because it was the first time in history that the victims had power and could command justice!

Tarantino knows this so well that if he used the word kike just once in any of his movie, he could say goodbye to his career but Blacks are expendable to him like John wrote it so well below!

Sankofa,Thanks for the hot information you sent us! I love what you wrote below Deeann D. Mathews! Sankofa, I heard about this psychiatrist. She must be one of the few Black female psychiatrists in North America. The system makes sure to keep it that way. Only 5.6% of Black females are physicians in the US! I think that it is really interesting Mathews that you were home schooled. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if I was home schooled also! I know a Black mother who did this with her daughter. Everybody criticised her in the Black community at the time. Now, I think she did the right thing. Her daughter is a lawyer, got married in other words she is well adjusted. Only 0.8% of Black females are lawyers in North America. So, if the mother did the same thing like everybody maybe her daughter would not be a lawyer today!

Having read both the articles and all the comments, I am curious about this movie, which is a rare occurrence for me. But I agree with the general theme; it is definitely time for us to be creating our own content if we are not happy with what others are putting together. In this day of cheap digital technology and the Internet, there is no reason that we could not both entertain and educate ourselves IF we could get over the idea that we need to make big bank from everything we do initially. But a few dedicated Black people working together to make film could be sustainable quite easily with the right financial skills and consistency of work.

@Ramses I was homeschooled, so I know of what you say. On the other hand, the the type of job my father had is no longer easy to find for a Black man. For Black women to be at home doing the work you describe, it would require Black men making enough income to support a wife and children on one income — AND/OR the wife being able to set up and have the support to run a successful home-based enterprise of some kind. That is how my grandparents managed, as it happens. But today, both Black men and Black women in many instances would need to get some business and money management chops so that a Black wife actually COULD be at home. That goes back to this whole idea: the fact that Hollywood doesn’t know how to tell the truth should be an opportunity for serious-minded Black people, and work enough to be done both outside (somebody’s gotta shoot it) and inside (somebody’s gotta edit it) the home. There are many such opportunities, but we do have to get ready for them, and be realistic about the economic challenges at hand.

At the end of the day put yourself in a position to tell your own stories economically and problem would be solved. But how can you tell your story when you don’t even know it yourself? If you had women who would build with men, who actually would homeschool their children and teach them their culture, then when they got into a school setting, maybe their self-concept would be so developed, their confidence in who they are and where they come from would be so ingrained, that a textbook on slavery would not bother them because they were never taught they were descendants from slaves in the first place. It all starts at home people. Public schools are for slaves, private schools are for owners. Mothers are the first teachers. But when your mothers spend more time at work and at the club than reading to you at night, what do you think will happen to the child? someone else will raise them. Why are you’ll making it s hard? And I agree with Ricardo’s post and Hotep Sankofa

I have -and continue to be- a huge supporter of Spike, but the fact is, his attacks on Tarantino (and Perry) come across as pure jealousy. Spike complains that the media come to him as a spokesperson on black issues, yet he can’t help throwing his two cents in when another artist scores with black-oriented material.

Lee of all people should know how unfair it is to critique a film maker’s work without viewing it first – remember all those scaremongering white critics who labelled his masterpiece Do The Right Thing inflammatory, and predicted that there’d be rioting in the movie theaters?

Does QT come off as a little too infatuated with a certain type of exaggerated black ‘cool’? Maybe, but all of his characters, regardless of race, reference cinematic / pop culture archetypes – that’s his schtick. Besides, for all the N-bombs he dropped in Jackie Brown, QT still gave us a black female character way more three dimensional and human that anything Lee has ever penned.

Like the rest of Tarantino’s canon, Django Unchained is a deliberately pulpy riff on genres past, but that doesn’t mean it’s insensitive or disrespectful to the victims of slavery. On the contrary – this movie really shows the unspeakable evil and brutality of the slave trade. Spike should know better than to dictate to a film maker what subjects and themes are and aren’t off limits.

What’s more, Lee’s a hypocrite. Chappelle’s Show had some hilarious slave-themed sketches, yet he was happy to appear on that. Apparently he had no concerns that Chappelle and (white) co-writer and creator Neal Brennan were being disrespectful to his ancestors.

@ Patty, I apologise for that link as it was another link I wanted to send. After reading it, I realized it was some fool under the guise of review, was questioning sister’s scholarship and thesis. However better than him has recommended the book. If you haven’t heard her stuff, you can get snippets on youtube. She is one of our unsung sheros.

Ramses, I will add that to my reading list. I am so trying to stay away from that crabs in the barrel shit, but sometimes knee-grows always come up with shit that throws you off your game

Which is why I say Sankofa black people talk shit….the fact that spike and perry can’t come together says it all….even as men we think it’s weak to show another black man respect….the media wants lebron to hate kevin durant just because they each want to be the best…on the court, they are trying to kill each other, off it, they’re good friends….spike lee and perry represent the dischord that exists amongst even successful blacks….like I always say “niggas can’t succeed even when they’re successful.”

I do not live in the US…I am in the North Country,the 51 state, but I would advise you to patronise an African American book store for obvious reasons. I am assuming you are African American or part of the greater African community, but if not just enter the name in the search box at Amazon.com

@really? When you can publicly berate Khazaars (so called Jews), go on their blogs or site and dismiss their tragedy in the second European tribal war, then you will be accepted as making intelligent points, otherwise fuck off from here. As Terrance Amen said, to all of the Caucasians commenting, why you coming up in here talking your anti African shit? Don’t you have some public schools to shoot up? See how that reverses shit works? @alexander killbutt, when homosexuals can investigate why they call each other fags at the same rate, just less commercialized, as the worst of us call ourselves niggers, then you too will be accepted for making valid points. Take the god dam log out of your eye, as you try to take the splinter out of mine. Of course we mad that others are using it, but we are also hypocrites for using it ourselves. But the greatest hypocrisy is that we don’t take this knee-grow entertainers to task for using it. And when I say take them to task; I am not talking about messy Jessie and his bullshit, corporate organ grinder minstrel show.

@ HockeyGuy and E. Hawthorne, you were addressed so I need not say more.

Personally I love spike Lee for his abilities, I detest Spike lee for him not trying to find a workable solution and himself falling for the money game. Whatever happened to 40 acres and a mule? It was supposed to be more than just a production company. I love the fact that Perry is practicing what Marcus Garvey dedicated his life to and what Terrence Amen promotes, but I detest his minstrel, implied homosexual images, even when he has proven to be, at this stage, more versatile than Spike lee in the variety of movies he makes. I have never seen Pulp Fiction, never will because of what I was told of the unnecessary Ving Rhames opening scene, but how is it we as a community love that movie, but are reluctant to see Django unchained. I am conflicted about seeing this movie because I overstand that Tarantino indulges in excesses, but at the same time I am curious about the depictions as the director, has claimed to adhere to a strict visual accuracy not seen outside of Goodbye Uncle Tom. At the end of the day, the best way to counter or parallel Perry or even Spike is to create a variety of African based movies, comedy, action, romantic or drama, without cooning and shucking, while existing outside of hollyweird and its money enslavement. Hell the continental family is doing it (especially in Nigeria and whether you like it or not, it is the fastest rising movie scene in the world). We in the west do have the economical weight. What we DON’T have is the economical clout, based on intelligent application of said weight, or the mindset to move up from corporate management to corporate ownership. I believe every aspiring director should read four books in their lives. These are the biography of Oscar Micheaux, the Philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey, the miseducaiton of the Negro and the Isis Papers. Once you have inculcated all the information, making a movie on your own terms and not watching other film maker would be most impactful. Unfortunately we are still too caught up in talking loud and saying nothing.

That’s because your people practically wiped out the Indigenous population and the ones that are left are dying off on the reservations. The only thing that saved them from becoming extinct is your people found a way to make money off their land by putting casinos on them. As far as the Mexicans, they’re taking their land back. They’re already the majority in California and other places as well. As far as Black people, if your people were in the same position as my people were in, you probably wouldn’t even be here to complain. Actually, this is really happening.

Why must black people always complain about slavery? Technically they were sold by there own kind for rum.. something they would still do these days for a 40oz. I bet if a blac
k man had did this movie Spike Lee would’ve said Ima buy me some KFC and go watch it with my kids…. You don’t hear Mexicans complaining about “they took our land” or the Indians crying bout how we basically took over there country…..

Okay, people I think you really need to go see the movie before you go and write some opt-ed about what this or that means. I for one did go see the movie and it was OUTSTANDING!!! Blacks and whites alike applauded after the movie was over. In this movie the black man was clearly the hero, in control the whole time. It was not some “please come save us poor blacks” movie where the white man is the cheer for hero. You have a movie where the ex-black slave Jamie Foxx is fighting to save his woman and take revenge along the way. You have a movie where white people are rooting for a black man that is killing “white people”. I heard all the criticism going into the movie but I think everyone leaving (and it was packed) felt blow away by the performances. And seeing as thought the movie was set in the 1800s just before the civil war…it makes sense that the N word was used alot (historical accuracy).

P.S. You know, Jamie Foxx and Samuel Jackson will not act or play leading roles in a jigaboo movie.

You finally got white hollywood making black-hero movies with black A-list actors. Stop complaining “Ninjas”! You hate Tyler Perry, FINE! You get sick of Spike Lees rants, FINE I do too especially when he aint employing no black folks in any award winning movies. Stop race bate’n and go watch it. Then I dare you to come back here and tell me I was wrong!

Otherwise stop acting like a bunch of plantation negros living off of rumors. See it for yourself and then come back here and make an informed comment.

People love to throw the ‘blacks kill each other’ thing into the mix. But guess what? Whites kill each other too! And if you go to China, Chinese kill other Chinese. Puerto Ricans kill Puerto Ricans, Italians kill other Italians. You kill where you live, amongst those you live with. Basic knowledge but a moot point the way HockeyGuy tries to use it.

Thousands of babies are killed in your abortion clinics every year. It’s true Black people use them because of their negative mental programming, but white people created them, so there are actually more murders done by whites then Blacks. It could be said that the n- word is appropriate because of the time period the movie was made in. I didn’t see the movie but heard it uses the n- word a lot. I think Tarantino is one of those white boys who wishes he were Black, and because of this, he has a love hate relationship with Black people. Kind of like a lot of white people, especially the ones who come to this site. Other wise why would you come to a site called thyblackman? E. Harthorne, good point.

I think that too many Whites do not respect us and among Blacks there are too many modern minstrels. Tarantino would never use the word kike in his movies but I guess Blacks are expendable to him. About Blacks why can’t we use more tender words such as brothers and sisters?

It is interesting that Dr. Watkins stated “But I’ve also gained an understanding of how money is used to enslave people, especially African Americans (see commercialized hip-hop as an example of how corporate money is being used to fund black male genocide).” While this website has two adds for YMCMB, one of the main contributers to the commercialization of hip hop.

On both sides of this I guess argument there is a point but non more valid than the other. Spike is a man of color from the north Tyler a man of color from the south, Tarantino a white man from the south. classic case of everybody seeing the same thing and giving a different interpretation of what they see. I feel that Spike is a Hater; not because of his opinion, but because he presents his case as if it’s the only valid one. they used to call these people up-petty Negroes, now we just call them haters. Tyler’s work is a direct vision into most southern homes both white and Black. and Spikes work embodies the Harlem Renaissance and the birth of a new Black Film Industry so who’s wrong?. no one is. there is an audience for both and should be the same respect. It’s kinda like a Classical musician looking down his nose at a Jazz musician back in the day he did not respect the gift because he felt like that’s not real music, this is the rode that Tyler and Spike find them selves on. you decide which is Jazz and which is Classical. But in the world of entertainment they both have there place as for the n-word we give it to much power to a word that Black people claim they detest but It’s in our music and movies, we only find it offensive if it comes from white lips or was written by white hands that’s what makes it foolish. The N-word has It’s place in American History and it’s not going anywhere from the 1700’s to the mid 1960’s that was the word used to address our people by America as a whole from the mid 1960’s to now we use it to address each other as a term of endearment or to emphasize a certain amount of ignorance. But tense up and want to kill the world if a white man says it. It’s like a kid having a toy he never plays with but if any body else picks it up he has a fit. lets grow up and realize the word is not going anywhere and neither are we. so we either pull it from all media or just except that it has it’s place and a certain set of meanings in Black pop culture. It’s not the word we have to regulate it’s the context in which it’s used and so far Tarantino has kept this in it’s proper context not to be insensitive to the placement of the word in his scripts if you can say you don’t know of any people who talk like that then we can approach Mr.Tarantino and get him inline. until then lets look at all of these men for what they truly are entertainers, not world leaders, not diplomats, not drum majors of freedom, they are simply entertainers creators of fiction for our amusement; and sometimes the method by which some light is shed on periods of our History some good some bad.

as a homosexual Puerto Rican, I feel like I can say whats what when it comes to offensiveness. So, it seems like Mr lee is mostly angry at what he feels is “gratuitous” use of the word. I hear it so much from black people rich and poor, I don’t even notice it.( I live in south jersey for reference)so I guess one could say if it bothers them so much, why do they keep saying it? a lot?. I think Mr lee is just mad that a non black is using it. Now that’s racism.

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